Our Nutri-Care initiative aims to raise £7,500 annually to help us support the 1500 families we see across the paediatric and neonatal units.

Over the next three years, our target is to raise a total of £22,500 to ensure the continuation of our efforts. Your contribution will directly support Nutri-Care.

By providing accessible refreshments on site such as cereals, soup, fruit, teas, coffee and other light snacks, we are able to focus on the health and well-being of the parent.

This ensures their needs are being met and facilitates that all-important respite needed whilst their child is being cared for.

Parents are not visitors. They can spend months on end on the unit whilst their child is being looked after by staff, and are often left feeling helpless and fearful.

During this time, with their sole priority being the health of their child, they can often forget to look after themselves. Providing cereals, refreshments, teas & coffee improves the welfare of parents, in an already demanding situation.

Eating well and eating regularly is also important for mothers to establish breastfeeding or expressing and to maintain their breastmilk supply.

With this in mind, this initiative will help focus on families by making sure they are being cared for.

In-hospital food options are limited, expensive and far away from the unit. By providing a variety of food options on the unit, we are reducing the parents need to leave the unit for longer periods and be far away from their baby or child in order to eat.

It would also help with the additional food costs that parents face.

Leaving the unit to buy food can be expensive and parents might decide to choose non-nutritious options closer to the hospital in order to keep costs down and reduce time away.

The cost-of-living crisis is hitting families hard - including families with a premature or sick baby in neonatal care right now.

In a survey of more than 1,900 parents, Bliss found families:

This campaign will be raising funds to focus on parent centred care, ensuring there are nutritional options available onsite that will allow a family with a baby or child on the unit to look after themselves whilst their child is being cared for.

Some of the food we aim to provide are:

• Heinz Soups

• Tinned and Dried Fruits

• Popcorn

• Cereal Bars

• Fruit Jelly

• Soreen Lunchbox Loaves

• Noodles

• Tea/Coffee

We will also be accepting food donations. For more information please get in touch at, info@cosmiccharity.org.uk where one of the Cosmic team members can provide further details.